Cooling means for engine pistons



7 y .1944. w. H. PURDIE 2,354,057

COOLING MEANS FOR ENGINE PISTONS Filed Aug. '16, 1943 Inventor m, m 19mmm. H. Purv/ie 1 I Patented July 18, 1944 I C OOLIN G MEANS FOR ENGINEPISTONS William Hamilton Purdie, Sunderland, England, assignor toWilliam Doxford & Sons Limited, Sunderland, Durham, England, a Britishcompa y - Application August 16, 1943,Serial No. 498,898 7 In GreatBritain August 21, 1942 2 Claims.

The present invention consists of improvements in or relating to meansfor conducting fluids to reciprocating parts and is particularlyapplicable, though not limited to, means for conveying cooling fluid toand from pistons of internal-combustion engines. 'I'n'the specificationof United States Letters Patent No'. 1,917,590 there is described aconstruction for this purpose comprising'a floating guide, a flexibletube whichpasses round the guide and has one end secured to thereciprocating part and the other to a stationary part, and means tocontrol the bodily movement of the guide to keep the tubetaut in allpositions of the reciprocatingpart. The anchoragev of the tube at oneend is made adjustable sothat tension can be applied toit, this tensionbeing adjusted to suit the length and weightof the tube and theacceleration forces to which it is subjected; .the longer and heavierthe'tube and the more rapid the reciprocating motion, the greater willbe the tension of the tube necessary to prevent undue oscillation. Theangular movement of the guide is derived, in part at least, from thetube and where the guides are of substantial construction additionaltension is necessary in the tube. For high speeds of operation, theincorporation of the mechanical strength in the tube to withstand thetension is detrimental to its flexibility.

According to the present invention, there is provided in fluid-supplyingmeans of the kind above described, the combination with the flexibletube, of a flexible tension member which is mounted and guided in thesame manner as the tube, but is substantially stronger in tension thanis the tube, means for tensioning said member, and means for securingthe tube to the tension member along its length.

Preferably there are provided a pair of flexible tension membersdisposed one on each side of the tube or tubes, and clips or the likebridging the space between the tension members and securing the tube ortubes thereto.

According to another feature of this invention, the floating guide ispositively engaged with the tension member or members to derive itsangular movement therefrom.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a purely diagrammatic view showing in elevation oneconstruction according to this invention, and

Figures 2 to 7 are sectional views showing various arrangements oftension members and flexible tubes.

Referring first to Figure l, the reference [I] indicates a reciprocatingpart towhich a fluid is to be supplied. It may, for example, be thepiston of an internal-combustion engine which is coupled to a crank IIand reciprocates between the positions l0 and I2. At a suitablyaccessible point on the member ID there is provided an inlet member l3for the supply of the fluid, and there is coupled to this part aflexible tube M. This tube extends around a guide-member l5 having asuitable radius of curvature, and the guide I5 is preferably pivoted onthe part III, so that it can rock during the reciprocation thereof.

The tube I4 is connected to a stationary supply pipe l6, and, asdescribed in the prior specification aforesaid, it is guided by afloating guidemember I! so that it can be maintained taut throughout thereciprocating movement of the part l0., The guide-member I1 is connectedto the pivotal axisof the guide l5 aforesaid bya rigid link l8, andisalso free to move through a small range 'ona fixed abutment38.

The feature of the present invention is that a strong butflexibletension-member, or a plurality of such members, is provided tosupport the flexible tube throughout its length, or at suitably spacedpoints along its length. As illustrated in. Figure 1, thistension-member I9 is constituted by a pair of flexible wire ropes spacedside by side as shown in Figure 2, with the flexible tube l4 betweenthem.

These wire ropes l9 are secured to the reciprocating part I!) and to a,fixed anchorage 20 and extend around the guides I5, [1, in such amanner that their centre lines correspond with the centre line of thetube I4 throughout its length. A suitable tensioning device 2| isprovided at one end of each of the tension-members l9, conveniently atthe abutment 2!), whereby the requisite tension can be applied to them.

As shown in Figure 2, the flexible tube M is attached to thetension-members l9 by means of two-part clips 22, 23 which are securedtogether by the nuts and bolts 24, the clips being clamped tightly onboth the tension-members and the flexible tube so as to secure themfirmly together. These clips 22, 23 are spaced along the length of thetube at suitable intervals, the spacing being arranged to suit thelength and weight of the tube and the rate of reciprocation to which itis subjected, so as to prevent it from vibrating relatively to thetension-members 19. The tension-members 19 are prevented from vibrationby suitable adjustment of the tension applied by the tensioning means 2|aforesaid. It will be appreciated that since the tensionmembers are theprime means by which vibration is prevented, only light tensioning, ifany, is required to be applied to the flexible tube Id itself.

In some cases it may be desirable to provide a plurality of flexibletubes in which case these may be arranged as illustrated in Figure 3,which shows two flexible tubes 25 arranged between a pair oftension-members 26 and secured to them by clamps in the same manner asis illustrated in Figure 2. The two tubes 25 might be used, for example, for inlet and outlet of the fluid.

An additional tension-member may be provided between the two tubesof'Figure 3, and also more than two tubes can be arranged in this manneras shown in Figure 4; in this figure there are shown two large diametertubes 27 and two smaller diameter tubes 28 all supported by threetension-members 29 and secured thereto by clamps similar to thoseillustrated in Figure 2.

In all these figures the tension-members have been shown as flexible.wire rope, but other suit ably strong and flexible materials may beused, thus for example, in Figure 5 the tension-members 36 are shown asthin flat steel strips and the clamps 3i are generally similar to thoseillusi trated in Figure 2, except that they are secured to the strips 38by bolts passing through the clamps and the strips, the strips 30 beingengaged betweenthe two parts of the clamp. In Figure 6 an alternativeclamping arrangement is shown, in 3 which the clamps 32 do not embracethe flexible steel strips 33, but are bolted to one side of them.

Yet another form of flexible tension-member which may be used is aroller chain, the arrangement of which is shown in Figure '7. In thisflgure r two flexible tubes 34 are shown with a roller chain at eachside of the tubes. Adjacent links of the chain are coupled by pivot pins35 in the usual manner, and the clamping plates 36 .are shaped to engagethe upper and lower edges of a link of the chain intermediate itscends,being secured thereto by a bolt and nut 3'1. When a roller chain is usedas the flexible member, it is desirable that sprocket teeth be formed onthe periphery of the guides l5 and I! to engage it and control itsmovement.

In all the constructions so far described, separate clamps are used forsecuring the flexible tube or tubes to the tension-members, but ifdesired, the tube may have moulded or otherwise formed on it fins orstrips for direct attachment in any convenient manner to thetension-members, and such means maybe arranged for ready detachment andreplacement of the flexible tube if necessary, With this arrangement,the flexible tube can be supported throughout its length by thetension-members if this is desirable in any special circumstances.

I claim:

1. In a machine, the combination of a reciprocating part whereto fluidis to be supplied, a plurality of flexible tension-members connected atone end to said reciprocating part and at the other end to a stationarypart of the machine, a floating guide-member engaging saidtension-members, means for tensioning said members, a flexible tube ortubes lying beside said tension-members and clips spaced along saidtension-members and secured thereto, said clips also gripping said tube.

2. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination of a piston wheretoa cooling liquid is to be supplied, a rigid link pivotally engaged atone end with a part moving with said piston and extending laterally fromthe part in movement with said piston, a roller on the other end of saidlink whereon said roller moves extending at rightangles to the path ofsaid piston, a guide-member carried on said link near said roller, aflexible tension-member having one end secured to said piston lyingalong said link and round said guidemember, an anchorage on a fixed partof the engine for said tension-member, means for applying tension tosaid member, a flexible tube communicating with said piston at one endlying beside said tension-member and having its other end communicatingwith a fixed supply pipe on said engine and means for tying saidflexible tube to said tension member to restrain it from vibration.

WILLIAM HAMILTON PURDIE.

